The cold, damp mist which lingered over the partially frozen passage did much to add to the isolated environment, making the enemy's presence even harder to distinguish.

"Verily...", Harao remarked as he lead the way, his pace slowly rising. "It muddles one's senses..."

Before they could advance further, one of his arms extended to his side, signaling the pair to halt.

"Charge swiftly...", the Jyunkichi called out to them, his sight not wavering from the path ahead which was now emanating a vastly unsavory aura, more so than the corridor itself. "Upon my hail...",

"Onward!"

The trio advanced through the dark corridor as flashes of icteric light fly past them from all manner of directions.

Their focus was pointed elsewhere, however, as they run across the obsidian tunnel with only one objective in mind.

"Make haste!", Harao called out to the others, leading the way while hurdling through a column of hostile Dronels. The others were not much different, likewise plagued by assailants from all corners, barely grazing past the thick lines of fire.

As the group approached the end of the obscure passage, an intense flash of light greeted them in their advance through the dark corridor's threshold.

Slowly, the light died down, promptly replaced by an incessant barrage of ethereal cacophonies vastly intensified by equally powerful bursts of light.

"Folizi...", Harao murmured as he leaped forward and into the violent, all consuming maelstrom before them.

Folizi?!, was Shanara's last thought as he finally saw a glimpse of the reality of the Verog's conflict.

Kae'shaz didn't know what the towering monstrosity was, but whatever it was, his armor recognized a power signature that was off the charts, especially for a living being. He switched one arm to a multi-barrel cannon and the other to an energy blade and triggered the flight unit, speeding off at whatever the huge being was. It was quick, granted; what would have landed right dab in the center of it's back barely glanced it's elbow."What the-?" Kae'shaz said, taken slightly aback by the speed of something so large.

The massive being became a blur in Kae'shaz' eyes as its colossal frame vanished from his sensors, only to be replaced by a thick veil of swirling, pitch black fabric. The dark mantles shone an eerily icteric aura as a swarm of writhing obsidian forms emerged from the materials' surface. Moments later, the Praetor found himself surrounded by an army of miniature Pure Nameless identical to the one before. One by one, the doppelgangers charged at him with speed similar to the larger Nameless, flailing their ragged cloaks about in a manner similar to a weapon.

At the sight of this development, Shanara hastily let loose his MLMs. With no time to spare, the Prince's armor converted for optimal flight and bolted full speed towards the Praetor.

"KAE'SHAZ!"

Back outside, an increasingly unsettling development was taking over Verog's orbit. Starting from the edge of remaining space, the Atomna in stasis slowly collapsed into the impenetrable abyss. Other vessels were starting to fall pray as well to the sphere of silent oblivion as it gradually made its descent towards the planet proper.

"KAE'SHAZ!"

However, just before the ball of Nameless finally collapsed into the Praetor, a blade of intense light pierced the dark swarm, taking out several of the clones which stood along its path. This was soon followed by another, then another, until the area was covered in razorsharp lights, scattering the army of miniature Nameless across the empty void.

Shanara reached the Praetor just as the immediate threat was neutralized by the attack, at least momentarily. The Prince's armor then switched rapidly into its other form before trailing one of the assailants with a salvo of MLMs.

Just as his attack connected and took out one of the clones, an audible thud rang through his armor. Looking towards the back of his canopy from where the impact was made, a very familiar figure welcomed the Prince's sights.

A figure which could only belong to a certain Orealyianis Prince.

"Shanara?"

"Brother?!"

"Hehhh... Hehhh... Hehhh...", a lethargic, snake-like voice called to the pair of Orealyianis. "Whhhat a hearrrtwarrrming reunnnionnn..."

As Folizi's companions regrouped around the newcomers, the massive Nameless finally emerged from the shadows.

Slowly, the being's head rose from the abyss, revealing a massive, half-shattered obsidian sphere. Encasing it like a cocoon, the equally dark fabric writhed over what remained of his face like a veil of swirling maggots as his single slit of an eye gleamed a deathly pale yellow light. His likewise incomplete and vastly distorted body was clad in an even larger string of fabrics as it exuded an otherworldly gut-churning aura that lingered over the field. The being's slithering, contorted posture was further aided by his lack of an arm and leg on opposing sides of his body, and in their place a pair of stumps excreting a vile icteric mist which promoted a sensation of repulsion merely from the sight of its presence. This loathsome amalgamation was further accentuated by the unnatural tree of obsidian tentacular fabrics which stretched far into the space around him, carrying his foul emanation further across the darkness.

A monument to abhorrence, the Nameless' form was nothing short of a towering abomination.

"Hmmm...", the being set its eyes straight through Kae'shaz armor and firmly towards the Praetor himself.

"Then come at me!" The praetor goaded, firing up the flight mechanism. The Nameless did not disappoint. The pair struck out, but both missed as well. Kae'shaz switched to the "beehive" cannon again and fired off a storm of bolts at the ground below him. Though most missed, smacking chunks of debris from the ground, a few managed to connect, knocking the Nameless a touch off balance. He flew down to even height temporarily."So, you're one of the true Nameless beings, I take it?" He soared back up before the Nameless recovered.

An ecstatic gaze appeared on Usuzimenheimer's eye as his opponent's armor quickly rose into the air.

"Trrrue Namelesss?"

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind swept across the nearby air as the Nameless purposely forewent its balance, falling backwards spreadeagled into the writhing carpet of fabric that had swiftly built up below.

"Elllder, to be exxxact!"

Usuzimenheimer's lone arm stretched towards the sky before a swift downward swipe planted it firmly into the ground.

The force of impact shook the nearby surface, sending fountains of debris high into the air.

No time was spared from the sudden shower of dust before a barrage of lance-like fabrics pierced the thick cloud and sprang towards the Praetor.

Howwweverrr...

"Kae'shaz!", Shanara called out as he quickly flew out to intercept the Praetor's assailants.

The rest of the team followed suit as they each took position parrying the string of attacks.

Evvven thhhat title...

As the first few strikes were finally intercepted, the obsidian fabrics began to glow once more, transforming the dark strands into an army of miniature adversaries.

Beam and blade continued to clash in the air as the clouded ground beneath slowly began to clear.

Willl neverrr be ennnough...

The settling dusts finally revealed the Nameless form recently obscured from sight.

The fighters were greeted by a vastly contorted Usuzimenheimer whose form can only be described as a tightly wound spring, ready to lunge at the fighters at a moment's release of force.

"Enough trickery!" Kae'shaz exclaimed, charging a pulse of energy momentarily before releasing it. A blue wave of energy consumed most of the room, cracking and breaking stone and tossing debris everywhere. All of the duplicates were destroyed; only the original Usuzimenheimer remained. Kae'shaz dropped down mere feet from the ground, switching both nodes to the honeycomb cannons; he proceeded to pound the Nameless' form with as many bolts of golden energy as the guns would spew forth at one time. The elder was not quite as lucky this time; the bulk of the Praetor's bolts hit him. Finally the guns went silent, overheated. Kae'shaz flew higher again. The elder was clearly still standing, though his form was smoking from the hundreds of blasts his body took. Kae'shaz shook the guns, trying to cool them down faster for another barrage.

The rest of the team spread across all directions, anticipating retaliation for the Praetor's recent assault.

They found none.

In it's place, an uneasy stare emanated from King Harous.

"Something is not right here...", he spoke in a deep cautioning voice as he eyed the prone Nameless.

Overlord Ragansa's armor immediately began to scan the surrounding field as soon as he caught on to the Luzonian King's exact thoughts.

Everyone tightened their senses as a worrying realization suddenly welcomed all of them.

"FOLIZI! BEHIND YOU!", the Choro alerted the group as a vast pillar of energy appeared from behind the Orealyianis Prince, the halo of energy diffusing from the beam barely grazing him as a large blur snatched him from the line of fire.

"Shanara!", the Prince turned towards his savior and saw the dire state of the now smoldering Armor.

"Go!", Shanara's Armor swung its arm skyward as it released its grip on Folizi, hurling him upwards as the other Orealyianis ejected from the cockpit to catch up with him mid ascent.

The rest of the team quickly let out their fury at the source of the sudden attack, only to receive no response from the enemy.

In the background, the massive Nameless body began to dissolve and reveal its original nature.

"He used the smoke...", Shanara noted, staring at the charred pile of fabric that served as the enemy's decoy. The two touched down on Kae'shaz' armor as they stood back to back, peering into the darkness. "He's out there, somewhere."

However, the Prince's question was suddenly interrupted as the sound of a low, hissing laughter echoed across the chamber from an indistinct direction.

"Thisss, litttle encounnnter, hasss been, innnteresssing..."

"Sssadly, it ssseems that I can't stay annny longer..."

"I havvve, let's sssay, grrreater thhhings to attennnd to..."

"Unnntilll next time, belovvved ones..."

The ground beneath the heroes slowly began to shake, the intensity doubling with every passing moment. Soon, the group found themselves dodging a rain of falling debris as the quake began to crack open the vast ceiling above.

Not a ways far, a large wave of ever increasing debris submerged the path out of the chamber, essentially trapping the team indefinitely as the hail of rocks pummels them incessantly.

"Try not to die on me..."

"Hehhh... Hehhh... Hehhh..."

Outside, the entire sky has all but been consumed by the darkness.

Verog's mighty peaks were the next to succumb to the void as everyone rushed to the planet's network of tunnels.

But even then...

Kanenatsu saw the frantic struggle happening all around him, everyone trying to find a way to resist the expanding nothingness.

Resigning things to fate, he looked across the medical bay to see an Orealyianis soldier deep in his own bubble of thought.

"All or nothing, amirite?", Kanenatsu sighed jovially before his expression was replaced with a vastly stern look.

"The best we could do now is hope, I guess...", a series of vivid memories from his relatively recent past flashed across the Terran-Ixian's mind.

"Don't count on it, gruesome." Kae'shaz scoffed as he engaged the hyperlink program his armor had saved, teleporting everyone back to the relative safety of the Phitire main fleet. They reappeared in the hangar of one of the Phitire's colossal battleships."Everyone ok?" The Praetor asked.

A powerful surge of distorted space rammed the combined fleets, wreaking havoc across the now tightly knit formation.

This proved most perilous to the mass collection of vessels as they were sandwiched between Verog's hostile surface and the approaching darkness above.

"I just received word from our units underground. It looks li-", Shanara alerted everyone as another surge ran through the colossal ship's corridors. "... like they just finished evacuating the lower levels."

"But more importantly..."

"What?!"

Most of the group collectively spat after hearing what had transpired until now.

"So, does this mean...", the Choro asked Shanara, implying his apparent conclusion.

"Unfortunately, yes.", he reluctantly confirmed the Choro's thoughts. "Another void opened up on the interior of the planet itself."

"We're trapped, then...", the Marakiri from the group stepped in and further cemented the dire situation. "Without any chance of escape."

Kae'shaz re-engaged his communicator."All ships, Emergency plan delta." He turned to the rest of the surviving party."Emergency Plan Delta involves overloading the main antimatter guns on the Battleships and firing. When it hits the distortion, it should, provided the mass of energy involved, rip a hole in space. Or, in short, we're going to make a wormhole out of here. I hope." Kae'shaz said, for the first time a sense of unsureness in his voice.

Outside, the thunderous hum of the fleet's collective antimatter guns filled whatever space remained between the two colossal, all consuming voids. In short time, the same force will unleash its full might against the surface of the expanding abyss in a bid to tear open a passage to the safety of the world outside.

On the surface of the obsidian planet, countless troops can be seen pouring into shuttles while coalition mechs scramble back to their carriers. The sound of intense crossfire echoes through the massive network of underground corridors, soldiers fighting their way back to the surface to escape from the rising darkness below. Powerful gusts of wind rage across the war shattered plains, caused by grounded battleships rising one by one, ascending into the relative safety of orbit in preparation for the mass exodus ahead.

The humming of the Photise fleet continued as the sound rapidly grew in strength. The weapons were mere moments from exceeding their maximum regular output, the time was now at hand to test whether or not it would work.

Please..., Shanara silently hoped, though he was quite certain that Kae'shaz heard it through his mind.

A massive surge of energy flooded the space around Verog as the Photise antimatter weapons as the colossal machines were finally pushed to their limit. The hum became a deafening roar as the guns prepared to engage the oncoming void.

♪

Light.

For a fraction of a fleeting moment, it was all the everyone could see as the mass from the collective antimatter collided with distorted abyss.

And then, another light.

However...

This new, icteric light was vastly different from the one which came before it.

An unsteady aura surrounded this second light.

An aura quickly felt by the more mentally receptive heroes.

"I see..."

Harao glanced towards Kae'shaz, certain that the Praetor also felt the sensation.

A loud grunt reverberates across a cold, damp and impenetrably dark chamber. A familiar voice lets out what can be thought of as an intense fit of pain.

Slowly, colossal footsteps rock the surface one by one, an air of weariness apparent in the lone voice.

Grrruesssome?

Me?

Hehhh...

Another, stronger grunt can be heard as a slow and heavy hum rises from the distance.

Soon...

... trrrue beauty...

... shalll finallly...

... be mine!

Eight Star Admiral Prince Meriza Kazamadariya sat on his desk, uneasiness painted all over his form as he scanned the latest reports regarding enemy activity within the Local Sector. As head of the Athanatsu Department of Defense, it was his sworn duty to protect, at all costs, the heart of Orealyianis civilization. There was no room in his field for things such as personal concerns.

Yet, he could not help but feel troubled as he glanced back at a recent report detailing the abrupt loss of contact with the OSN's First Fleet hours after reaching Verog.

Just as he was lost in thought, a familiar voice suddenly echoed within his mind, calling.

It was Shanara.

Meriza rose from his seat, turning towards the large pane which showcased the evening sky. Steadying his sights, he fixes it upon a certain star. The very star which hosted Verog itself.

"Father..."

Elsewhere in the Local Sector, the TSS Illumination, one of TIER's Athanatsu-Class warships was on its way to support the Talsenreave's defenses when a massive wave of energy rocked the vessel's sensors.

"We're getting a MASSIVE spatial distortion from area !", one of the ship's bridge officers alerted the crew.

"Verog...", the captain murmured, somewhat coldly, as he listened to the officer's report.

"According to our calculations, this one is order's of magnitude more powerful than the ones that brought in the LACs!", another officer added, at which point the captain rose from his seat and promptly cleared his throat.

"Captain Ceramoleious...", one of his aides approached, anticipating his superior's command.

"Prepare a basic scouting force and launch two forward recon probes to the source of the distortion.", Ceramoleious faced his aide, an air of calmness evident in the Choro's otherwise stern commands. Looking back towards the bridge, he forwards another set of orders as the ship carriers on its way towards the currently besieged Talsenreave.

Meriza...

Kiyavi...

Shanara's thoughts drifted to his son and grandson as he looked towards the absent stars. The abyssal prison continued to shrink by the instant, Verog's surface having been completely consumed by the darkness not long ago.

Looking at Kae'shaz, the Orealyianis Prince thought to himself whether the Praetor might harbor the same feelings as well. For the Photos that were outside, who were still battling the Nameless alongside the many allies which they've found amongst the stars.